Heroes Alike
by Britt30
Summary: A one-shot requested by Barbacar. Mabel gets sucked into the portal and Ford brings her out, seemingly fine, but unconscious. When she wakes up, what will she remember about the man in the portal?


**A/N: Hello everyone! This was a request from the lovely Barbacar for a slight AU to the portal scene. Please read, review, and enjoy!**

"I trust you."

And with those three words, the world fell apart.

Blinding white light covered every aspect of the room. Gravity was a lie and the high pitched wail of the tear between worlds was the only sound. Dipper was on the edge of blacking out, but saw through bleary eyes an unconscious Mabel get sucked into the portal. A cry ripped from his throat, primal and fearful.

"MABEL!"

For a split second, everything was still before it came crashing down. Dipper nearly face-planted, but was back on his feet faster than he thought possible. He didn't even spare a glance at Stan and Soos, already running towards the now collapsed portal with only the thought of saving his sister in his mind. In his haste, he almost ran into the man stepping out of the portal.

A scarf and pair of goggles hid his face. A long, black trenchcoat disguised the rest of him. Mabel lay in his arms, still unconscious, but not noticeably injured.

"Wha- who… are you?" Dipper asked, taking a step back, eyes flitting between the man's face and his sister. The man didn't respond, but strode forward with purpose and once they were far enough from the portal, he gently laid the girl down on the floor in a debris free spot. Her brother was immediately at her side, attempting to wake her up. He was distracted from his efforts as the man lowered his hood and removed his scarf revealing… Stan? No, just someone who looked like Stan.

"Who is that?" Soos asked quietly.

"The author of the journals," Stan replied, slowly getting to his feet. "My brother."

If Dipper hadn't been so worried about Mabel, he might have passed out there and then. As it was, he felt like he was going to puke and did _not_ want to do that in front of his idol.

"Scoot back boy," the author ordered. "Let me take a look at her."

"You're- I- is she?- oh my gosh-"

"Easy kid," Stan said, kneeling down and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Breathe. There you go." He looked at his brother, face full of apprehension, fear, hope, and joy. "What's the verdict Sixer?"

The glare Ford gave him crushed most of those hopes, but hey, at least he didn't punch him in the face.

"She'll be fine. The shock of travelling between dimensions… and what she might have seen _in_ the other dimension is probably what made her pass out. Of course, I'll have to do tests on all of you to make sure you weren't affected by any radiation coming off the portal and-"

"Y-you're the author," Dipper stuttered. "You're the- oh my gosh, I have so many questions for you, about Gravity Falls and different creatures and-"

"Yes, I have some questions myself," Ford admitted. "Specifically, _why_ you thought it was a good idea to restart the portal after I specifically warned you not to _Stanley._ "

"Wh- Stanley?" Dipper asked. "But you're name is Stanford."

"You stole my name!?" the author demanded.

"I guess I have some explaining to do," Stan admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"You think?" Dipper said.

"This better align exactly with my fanfiction Mr. Pines," Soos said, finally joining them in a circle on the floor around Mabel. "Or else I will be very disappointed."

::::

Dipper held Mabel's hand, gently rubbing his thumb across her knuckles as Stan and Ford told their stories and he was _enraptured._ Mabel wasn't going to believe this.

They were interrupted by the Government Agents, but thanks to Dipper and Ford's quick thinking, they were able to sort it out. Ford had set Mabel down on the gift shop floor while he sent the agents away, but quickly returned to where Dipper was watching over her.

"So…. can I ask you some questions now?" the young boy asked excitedly. Ford smiled and laughed a bit self consciously.

"Maybe tomorrow, but it's getting late and Mabel should really be put in a bed."

"Oh! R-Right! This way!"

Dipper lead Ford up the stairs, but was stopped from going in his room by Stan who wanted a word alone with his brother. Dipper sulked off to the bathroom to brush his teeth and Stan was about to round on Ford when Mabel woke up.

Ford had barely set her down in her bed when she blearily blinked her eyes open. Wide and unfocused, scared and confused, they finally landed on Ford and softened. Next thing he knew, he was wrapped in a hug that was surprisingly strong for a twelve year old girl.

"I don't know who you are," she whispered. "But you're my hero!"

Ford finally unfroze and gently returned the hug.

"And it would seem that you're mine."

Stan watched silently then slipped back down to the basement. It could wait until tomorrow.


End file.
